Saving Brooklyn
by AudreaFalco
Summary: Alexandra Bolt had proven to the military that she was more than capable of being a soldier and in response was assigned to a squad under the supervision of Captain John H. Miller. When the squad is given orders to seek out and protect a certain James Francis Ryan, she realizes maybe there are more important things than just winning the war.
1. Blood on the Beach

**I just wanted to throw this story up to see if anyone would want me to continue with the idea I had for this movie with a new female soldier thrown into the mix. If I get enough feedback and interest I'll definitely continue, so please let me know what you think!**

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><p>I shook my body, trying to get rid of the water that was soaking through my shirt and jacket. At this moment, Omaha Beach and the fight ahead wasn't the first thing on my mind. I was afraid of being shot and dying on that beach with thousands of men, sure, who wasn't? But, looking at the present on our ride to the beach, however, I was more concerned with not ripping apart the man next to me.<p>

"You going to quit now, Thunderbolt? Huh? Women weren't made for this kind of thing." Private First Class Richard Reiben stood next to me, a smug look plastered onto his face as he held his B.A.R snugly to his chest. I grit my teeth and shot a look over at him, shifting the Springfield M1903 sniper rifle I held. "Maybe you shouldn't be out here then if this type of thing wasn't made for you."

He shot me a glare. "Maybe you should just go back to Boston-"

"Maybe you should shut your ugly mug-"

"You'll be begging me to take you to dinner when this is all over-"

"Shut it, both of you." Technical Sergeant Mike Horvath whispered harshly from behind us, his eyes giving a slight roll of annoyance as he placed chew between his teeth. I glanced back at him and he shot me a look, motioning to Reiben and mouthing 'knock it off with him.' I nodded slightly at him as I caught sight of Captain John H. Miller standing next to him staring at the ground. I looked to where his gaze was situated and saw that his hands were shaking. I opened my mouth to say something to him when the driver yelled over the sound of crashing waves. "Clear the ramp! Thirty seconds!"

I turned back around and saw the edge of the beach coming into view. I frowned and finally noticed my nerves had caught up with me, forcing my body to give out involuntary shakes every few moments.

"Port side stick, starboard side stick, move fast and clear those murder holes." I could hear Captain Miller yell from behind me and I saw everyone in front of me nod in understanding, Horvath moving past Reiben and I to the middle of the boat. "I wanna see plenty of beach between men. Five men is a juicy opportunity, one man's a waste of ammo."

"Keep the sand out of your weapons. Keep those actions clear. I'll see you on the beach." With the final words from Captain Miller the boat became silent again, my eyes darting around at the men around me. I saw Reiben swallow hard from next to me, his hands gripping the B.A.R tighter. Directly in front of me stood Technician Fourth Grade Irwin Wade, our field medic, and next to him stood Private Daniel Jackson, a sharpshooter like myself. I watched him for a moment as he shoved a hand into his shirt and grabbed the gold cross hanging around his neck, placing it to his lips and then mouthing something I couldn't make out.

I swallowed after a moment, watching the grim faces on the other soldiers around me. A whistle sounded as the ramp began to lower, everyone in front of me bracing themselves for the scramble up the beach that would take place after we landed. When the ramp fully lowered I saw bodies immediately drop towards the front, shooting my eyes up towards the hills where I knew Germans were concealed in hidden bunkers. More bodies dropped as I covered my head, Miller's hand lying flat against my back to steady himself. "Jump off from the sides! Go, now!"

I felt Miller's hand give me a push from behind and I stood up, catapulting myself over the side of the boat and into the blood-stained water. I hit the water and sunk a few inches before I opened my eyes, watching as a lifeless body fell off of the boat and on top of me. I struggled to get the dead weight away from me when I felt someone grab my forearm, hauling me above water. I took in a gulp of air and coughed, gagging on a combination of salt water and metallic blood from fallen comrades. I looked up to see Wade staring at me, his eyes wide in concern as he scanned over my body for hidden injuries. "We need to move."

He turned around quickly and made his way through the water towards the beach with me following behind. More and more men fell around us and I cringed, watching as some clutched missing limbs.

"Get me to a concealed spot and I'll snipe some of these bitches off!" I yelled over the loud noise of grenades and gunfire going off around Wade and I. He turned around and nodded at me, quickly leading us in the direction where the rest of the squad was located on a man-made hill. A blast went off next to Wade and he jumped forward, landing almost directly on top of Horvath who was attempting to contact command.

"Watch it!" Horvath shot a glare at Wade who just looked at him sheepishly, lying down on the hill next to him and shooting at the Germans in the hills. I lied on my elbows next to Miller as Horvath smacked the phone against the sand, cursing under his breath. "Damn thing's fried!"

"Try it again! Get them on the line!" Miller yelled over me to Horvath who just nodded, smacking it off of the sand again. Miller looked at me and then back towards the direction machine gun fire was coming from. "Private Alexandra Bolt, take them out."

Miller smirked to himself as he began firing back at the German forces, my own smile making its way onto my face as I steadied my rifle. "Yes, sir."

I shifted my body into a more comfortable positon and looked through the site, spotting two Germans in a concealed bunker immediately. I smirked when I realized they were attempting to remove a jam from their machine gun, both of them yelling at each other. I adjusted the sight accordingly and then steadied my breathing, taking the first shot and taking out the first German. The other man stared in shock as his comrade fell before I took the second shot, taking him down just as easily as the first.

"Finally got this shit to work!" Horvath's voice held a bit of relief and excitement as he got through to command, his other hand covering his other ear to listen more clearly to directions on the other end.

"Eyes open! Don't give them a window of opportunity to come back!" Miller shouted above the gunfire at us, encouraging us to keep going. I smiled, picking off another German in a bunker. The deafening noises of war and the feeling of pulling the trigger on my rifle was what I had joined the military for. Or, should I say, _forced_ the military to give me a chance to see that I was better than half of the men they drafted. They agreed to put me through basic training and only then if I had passed could I join combat forces. The command in basic training may have been reluctant at first, but they were accepting after they saw that I wasn't just some skinny girl looking for attention. I could hold my own and was one of the best shots they had seen when it came to sharpshooters. The men I had worked with warmed up to me after a while and accepted me as just another comrade. Little did I know, not everyone I would be working with felt the same way.

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><p>"Go back to Boston, bitch! This war's no place for a woman!" I felt another shove hit my shoulder and I stumbled back, a harsh glare coming from Reiben. A few men stood around us in awe of the situation, watching as I jumped forward and landed a solid hit to Reiben's ribs.<p>

"Take your sexist bullshit back to Brooklyn! You know damn well that I'm a hell of a lot better shot than you'll ever be!" I snarled at Reiben as I lunged forward again, knocking him in the jaw with a right hook and forcing him to stumble back. My breathing was ragged as I glared at Reiben, my heartbeat pounding in my knuckles as the pain began to arise where they had made contact with bone. A few jeers could be heard from around us where a small audience had been watching from, Private Stanley "Fish" Mellish and Private First Class Adrian Caparzo leading the peanut gallery.

"Fuck him up, Lex! Hit him in his ugly face!" Caparzo roared behind me and I smirked, his comments always riling me up or making me laugh.

"Fight back, you pansy! Hit her back!" Fish, on the other hand, wasn't very fond of me and he always went out of his way to show that. Reiben smirked at him and then wiped the blood from his lip, holding his fists out in front of him and beckoning me towards him. "Come on then."

I let out a mocking laugh and then nodded at him, placing my fists out in front of me. We watched each other for a moment as everyone made noises of anticipation around us. Reiben was a few inches taller than I was and a lot broader, but I knew I could take him if I timed my shots right. I jumped forward in a fake out and smirked when Reiben moved back a bit, taking him by surprise and bringing my right hand forward towards his jaw. A crack echoed in the air as an uproar sounded around us. Reiben stumbled back and grabbed his chin, glaring at me as he lunged forward, catching me off guard and knocking me in the cheek.

I stumbled back and grabbed for my mouth, tasting the familiar metallic of blood. I heard Reiben scoff from in front of me as he crossed his arms, a smug smirk playing on his face. "Told you she couldn't handle-"

Before Reiben could finish his sentence I had swung my right hand forward, punching him square in the nose. A sound of pain escaped his mouth as he fell back on his butt, clutching his nose and writhing around in the sand in pain.

"Jesus Christ…" Wade immediately crouched down beside Reiben as Caparzo grabbed my arms, holding me back from getting any cheap shots in while Reiben was down. I smirked when Wade gingerly removed Reiben's hand from his nose, watching as a stream of bright red blood oozed out.

"What the hell is going on here?!" The annoyed and stern voice of Captain Miller caused everyone standing around to jump in surprise, all of us turning to look at him as he walked towards our little fiasco. His face was contorted into a look of anger, his eyes scanning over all of us in an attempt to put together what had happened. He took a moment to stare down at Reiben, taking in the blood stained on his face and then looking to me, his eyes catching sight of Caparzo's grip still locked on my arms. "So, let me take a guess here…we get through the first wave of German forces, lose a shit ton of comrades and brothers, and you two decide your little fourth grade spat is so important that you have to duke it out right here on the beach while dead bodies litter the area? Dead bodies of your comrades!"

Miller looked at all of us in disbelief, his voice cracking when he talked about the fallen soldiers around us. We all stared at the ground in guilt as Miller sighed, running a hand over his face before looking around. "Anyone want to tell me what the fight was about?"

Everyone remained silent before Wade spoke up, everyone's eyes turning to him. "Uh…Reiben was just telling Lex that she shouldn't be here because war is no place for a woman, so she hit him and a fight started."

Miller stared at him for a moment before looking down at Reiben. "Is that true?"

Reiben, being the stubborn bull that he is, didn't respond as he looked away, massaging the side of his nose. Miller shot him a look and then turned his attention to me, raising an eyebrow. "Bolt?"

I bit the inside of my cheek before sighing, averting my gaze from our Captain. "Yes, sir."

Miller nodded at me and then rubbed the back of his neck, his sudden raised voice startling all of us. "I recommend you remove these thoughts of who is fit for war and who isn't from your minds because right now you are all here fighting next to one another! You will protect each other and you will have each other's backs no matter what! Understood?"

"Sir!" All of us responded to Miller in unison, his face still holding a look of annoyance. He nodded at all of us and then reached a hand out towards Reiben, pulling him to his feet. "We're moving out in a few. I suggest you gather what you need."

He looked around at all of us and then began walking away from our group towards another group of soldiers. We were all silent for a moment before Reiben spoke up again, a glare being shot in my direction. "Way to get a cheap shot in and try to break my face."

I scoffed and waved a hand at him. "Please. You should be thanking me since the hit made your fugly face a little better-"

"One more comment like that and I'll make your death look like an accident." Reiben stormed over to me and shoved a finger in my face, a smirk playing on my lips as I swatted his hand away. "You couldn't hit me with a bullet even if you tried. Your aim sucks."

"I wouldn't have to use bullets. I'll just kill you with my bare hands." Reiben smirked at me as he crossed his arms, earning a roll of the eyes from me as I began walking away from him down the beach. "Whatever, Reiben."

I could feel everyone's eyes on me as I began walking down the edge of the beach to nowhere in particular, my hands flying up in the air frantically. "You know what? Screw this! I can't stand to bear one more minute with him! I'll win the war myself! It'll go down in the history books and they'll talk about one lone girl winning the whole damn war herself! With just a sniper rifle!"

Everyone stared at me in surprise, even Reiben, as I continued walking farther into the distance. I grumbled as I wrapped my arms around myself, hearing two sets of footsteps running towards me after a moment. "Wait!"

I felt a hand clasp my left bicep and I looked over at Jackson, shooting him a look as I stopped in my tracks. "What?"

"Just- I don't think- Just come back. I promise Reiben won't bother you anymore." Jackson's face held a look that showcased that he didn't even believe himself as he spoke to me, my eyes wandering over to Caparzo who stood next to him, shooting the second sharpshooter his own unconvinced look. "Yeah…uh…just come back with us, Lex."

I stared at them both for a moment before I sighed, nodding my head. "Fine-"

Both of them had linked their arms with mine and were rushing me back to the group before I could comply, a glare making its way onto my face as we made our way to the group. When both men had put me back on my feet I wrenched my arms from them, wringing my left hand around my right arm. "I don't appreciate being transported like that."

"We knew you wouldn't come any other way, with your bull-headed tendencies and whatnot." Jackson shrugged at me and I sent him a glare, landing a punch to his shoulder. He shot me a look as Caparzo laughed, handing me my rifle. Wade, Horvath, Reiben, Mellish, and Miller all walked over to us after a moment, making up the rest of our squad. Miller looked around at all of us and nodded. "Ready to move out?"

All of us nodded in unison at him, following behind him as he took the lead. I felt someone bump into me from the right and I looked up to find Reiben smirking at me. "Don't go crying on me when we get into more dangerous combat-"

"How about you just not talk to me, Reiben-"

"How about I just take you to dinner some time and we'll call it even for you almost breaking my nose-"

"Ugh, you're such a dick!"

Miller sighed heavily from in front of the group as everyone else laughed quietly. He shot his gaze to the grey sky, knowing that his missions with this particular squad were going to be like nothing he had ever experienced.


	2. Revisiting the Past

"Ugh, my ass hurts." Fish groaned as he sat down in one of the man-made shallow ditches in the base camp we had finally made it to on Omaha Beach.

"Did you get shot there?" Wade, always one to try and be on top of things when it came to pain, cocked an eyebrow at Fish as he set his pack down. Fish looked up at him annoyed. "No I did not get shot in the ass. Can you just stop playing doctor for like, three seconds, Wade?"

"He's just trying to be nice. Jesus, Fish." I rolled my eyes at him as I sat down between Jackson and Wade, shoving my pack between my feet. Fish looked over at me, shifting his position so he was lying down on his left elbow. "What's the deal with you?"

I glanced over at him as I placed my rifle next to me. "What?"

"He means, what's your story? Why the hell are you here?" Reiben clarified for me as he held a cigarette between his lips, holding his hands up to light it and then taking a puff of smoke in Jackson's direction. Jackson sent a glare in Reiben's direction as he fanned away the smoke that hit his face, turning his gaze to me. "I think we're all curious."

I shrugged. "Well, uh…anything specific you want to know?"

"Yeah," Reiben's word was obscured as he attempted to talk with the cigarette still between his lips, his eyes locking on me. "Why aren't you back at home sewing or some girly shit-"

"For fuck's sake, Reiben, do we have to start that shit again?" Jackson groaned and ran a hand over his face as Reiben looked at him and smirked, smacking him in the arm. "Course I do, Bumpkin."

"Just go ahead and tell us the generic stuff and ignore the walking dick over there." Caparzo grinned at me from between Wade and Fish, lying back on his elbows as I bit the inside of my cheek. "Hmm…well, when I was younger my family had a big house with a lot of land and a few horses on the outskirts of Boston. It was just my parents and my older brother and I. My mom and dad would alternate between teaching us various skills in both spectrums. For instance, my mom would teach me how to cook-"

"Which you should be doing now-" Reiben flinched and dropped the cigarette from between his teeth when Jackson kicked him in the shin, glaring at Jackson when the cigarette hit the dirt.

"Let her finish." Jackson sent the glare right back at Reiben before nodding at me, telling me to continue.

"As I was saying, my parents liked to have us learn skills that would leave us better prepared later on in life. Nathaniel, my brother, always wanted to be a pilot so my dad took him out and taught him how to fly in the restored prop plane he had bought. After a while, my brother decided to tell my parents he was enlisting into the reserve to become a fighter pilot. This was when we knew things were getting bad in Europe and the war was impending."

"So, you signed up as a man to serve the country, right?" Fish cocked an eyebrow at me as I shook my head with a chuckle. "That's sort of right. My brother never got the chance to start his fighter pilot training. One late night someone tried to break into the house. My brother, being the protector that we all came to know him as, tried to scare the burglar out of the house with his shotgun. We heard gunshots so we imagined he had to use force, but when my dad ran downstairs first we heard a really sad cry. My mom and I ran down and I just saw my brother lying there with a bullet wound in his chest. His eyes were staring right into my soul; wide open and glassed over. My mom just collapsed to the floor and I was just there, frozen in place."

I took in a breath as I remembered the image of my brother lying on the floor of our house, blood seeping out of his chest and onto the wood floors. I noticed at this point everyone was staring at me in complete silence, probably shocked that a story like that would come out of my mouth.

I coughed once before looking up at everyone. "After that I decided that I wanted to fulfill my brother's dream of being in the military. Although, I didn't have any idea how to fly a plane so being a fighter pilot was out of the question. I just enrolled as a marine, a male marine named Alexander Bolt, and took on basic training. During a training session with some of the weapons, my helmet had been bumped off and my long hair gave me away," I reached up and ran a hand through the length of my dark brown ponytail. "There was a lot of screaming and confusion among the marines, so I just decided to show them I was worth keeping around since I knew they would send me home right then and there. I took a gun and started shooting at the targets, hitting them all square in the bulls eye and at an alarming place that made everyone take notice. Long story short, I promised them that I could make it through all of the training and be one of the best sharpshooters they put into combat. After a lot of arguing and reluctance, they agreed."

I smiled and looked up at everyone. "And now I'm here with all of you."

"Wait a minute," Everyone looked at Reiben as he waved a hand at me, shaking his head. "That's it? They just let you in here because you made a lot of promises? Give me a break."

Reiben dismissed me as he threw his head back with a laugh, Jackson shooting him an eye roll as I shrugged. "That's pretty much it. I know it's hard to believe, but that's how it happened. However," I flexed my fist and pointed to the bruise that was still slightly visible on Reiben's jaw. "They also took a specific interest in my ability to take down men double my size and my agility."

Reiben glared over at me as I smirked at him, Wade cocking an eyebrow at me. "What, so you're like half robot, too?"

"I wish, then I could shoot Germans with lasers from my eyes." I let out a laugh as I imitated lasers shooting from my eyes with my hands, causing Wade and everyone else to smile. Except Reiben that is.

"You didn't take me down. You just got lucky." Reiben crossed his arms and cocked an eyebrow at me, my hand rising to give him a dismissive wave. "Whatever."

"Listen up!" The sound of Horvath's voice caught all of our attention and we looked behind us, watching as he and Miller walked over. Horvath took a knee beside Jackson and I as Miller walked away from us towards the command post, talking about finding an interpreter.

"What are we doing?" Caparzo looked up at Horvath as he lit a cigarette, puffing out a few breaths as Horvath shot him a look. "What?"

"What are we doing?" Caparzo said his statement again as Horvath took off his helmet, setting it under his arm.

"You're being sent home wrapped in an American flag with a hunk of cheese in your ass, Caparzo, you smartass." The look Horvath sent Caparzo and the statement caused me to snort, placing a hand to my mouth to hold back laughter.

"I thought you liked it in the ass?" Reiben sent Horvath a smug smirk, puffing on a newly lit cigarette.

"What?" Horvath sent another look at Reiben, daring him to say it again which we all knew he would.

"I thought you liked it in the ass?" I rolled my eyes at Reiben as Horvath sighed at him, annoyed.

"If you don't shut the hell up and let me finish what I need to tell you I'm going give you to the Germans and let them have their way with you, that sound good?" Horvath shot a look at Reiben who just smirked. "Perfect."

"Fucking…" Horvath mumbled to himself as he sighed, placing two fingers to the bridge of his nose. "Anyway…all of you lucky bastards and lady have been chosen to go on a mission to find a soldier named James Francis Ryan."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Reiben shot a look at Horvath, all of us looking at him confused. Horvath just sighed again as he shrugged. "Orders from the boss. Guy had three brothers all killed in the war and they want the last one alive to send home to mom."

My face fell at the thought of losing three brothers. Losing my own was hard enough, but losing three?

"So, when do we move out to go find this unlucky bastard?" Reiben piped up again and I could see Horvath resisting the urge to roll his eyes again. "Just as soon as Miller finds a new interpreter. Upham I believe."

"Great, someone else to babysit." Fish spoke between puffs of his cigarette and rolled his eyes, Caparzo landing a solid kick to his shins as he grinned. "Yeah, he'll be a playdate for you since you know we're the ones babysitting your ass."

Everyone in the group let out a chorus of laughs at the look that crossed Fish's face, a hand coming out to swat at Caparzo. "Shut the fuck up!"

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><p>"Hey! Want your head blown off you fancy little fuck?" I let out a snort at Fish's statement from behind me, glancing back to see him glaring at Timothy Upham, the newest addition to our squad. He was a cartographer who could speak French and German and he would come in handy for those instances we needed a translator, but he was also jumpy as hell. That was what really made me iffy about his presence.<p>

"S-sorry…" Upham mumbled out at Fish as he looked at him, Fish sending another glare in his direction. "Don't you ever touch me with those filthy little rat claws again. Get the fuck back in formation."

Upham retreated back a few steps as Fish turned away. He looked as though he was about to say something back to Fish and I elbowed Wade who was walking next to me, giving a nod in the direction of the two. Wade looked back at them just as Upham spoke. "Just want to know where you're from…"

Upham's voice was timid as he spoke to Fish and Wade shook his head, looking over at me. "What is with this guy?"

"I'm not sure if giving him that gun was a good idea. Does he even know how to use it?" I looked at Upham skeptically as he attempted to escape a death glare from Fish by moving up to walk next to Caparzo. I watched him for a moment before he spoke again. "Caparzo?"

Caparzo looked over at him, taking the cigarette out of his mouth. "Hey, drop dead, Corporal."

I made a face at Caparzo's response and held back the urge to let out a chuckle at the utter embarrassment that flashed across Upham's face when he once again got rejected of a conversation.

"And another thing," Caparzo took a drag of his cigarette before looking at Upham. "Every time you salute the Captain you make him a target for the Germans. So do us a favor, don't do it. Especially when I'm standing next to him, capeesh?"

"Capeesh…" The word was an almost whisper as I strained to hear Upham. Caparzo gave Upham an eye roll as he turned away, replacing the cigarette to his lips. I turned my attention back to the front as Upham started to move up to Wade and I, falling into step between us. There was silence for a moment as I tried not to look at Upham, attempting to look as though the field we were walking in was the most fascinating thing I had ever seen. When I felt eyes on me I finally turned my head, meeting the curious gaze of Upham. He stared at me unblinking for more than a few moments before I made a face at him. "What's up with you? Never seen a girl before?"

The question came out louder and more aggressive than I had wanted it to and I could hear Caparzo and Fish give out snorts from behind me. Upham blinked hard at me and jumped in shock, shaking his head as Wade cocked an eyebrow at him. He shook his head. "No- I mean- I've never seen a girl in the war. I didn't know women were allowed in combat-"

"Corporal, what's your book about?" Wade interrupted Upham and reeled the conversation in a completely different direction, knowing my patience was growing thin. I had dealt with Reiben talking shit about me all morning and I wasn't about to get into another conversation about how I was a girl in the war, especially to the one guy in the group who looked like a shaking lapdog.

Upham chuckled as his mood got a bit brighter with the conversation turning to what he was working on. "Well-"

"Watch the gun." Wade pushed the barrel of Upham's gun away from his head, my face contorting into a look that told everyone I knew I was right about Upham and his awkwardness.

"Sorry, sorry," Upham laughed nervously as Wade just nodded at him to continue. "It's supposed to be about the bond of brotherhood and the love between soldiers during war."

A loud "ha!" sounded from behind us and we all glanced at Fish, seeing a smirk on his face. "Hear that, Reiben? The love between soldiers. He wants to write a fucking novel about you and Lex."

I shot a hard glare in Fish's direction as Caparzo held back a snort, Upham looking at me curiously. When I turned back around to face forward I saw Reiben looking at us from the front of the group, a smirk playing on his features. I rolled my eyes at him and groaned, mumbling to myself. "You had to go and say something like that, didn't you?"

Caparzo looked over at Upham and let out a laugh, motioning in his direction. "What do you know about brotherhood? Get a load of this guy, Fish."

I saw a look of confusion flash across Upham's face before Caparzo tapped him in the shoulder, motioning to the front of the group. "Why don't you go ask the Captain where he's from?"

"Yeah, ask the Captain where he's from. He'll tell you everything you want to know about him." Fish held back a laugh as he looked around, Upham looking back at him and then to the front of the group. "Really?"

"Just don't get him started." I shook my head at Upham and he looked at me, shrugging a bit when I turned away from him again. There was silence hanging over the group again as we continued to walk, moving into an area where a few trees and bushes were overgrown.

"You want to explain the math of this to me?" Reiben's voice cut through the silence after a while and we all looked up at him. "I mean, where's the sense in risking the lives of the eight of us to save one guy?"

Miller cocked an eyebrow at Reiben before speaking. "Anyone wanna answer that?"

"Reiben, think about the poor bastard's mother." Wade spoke from beside me and I nodded at him, Reiben turning to glance at Wade before making a face. "Hey, Doc, I got a mother, you got a mother, the Sarge has got a mother. I'm willing to bet that even the Captain's got a mother," Reiben looked over at Miller, a smirk making its way onto his features before continuing. "Well, maybe not the Captain, but the rest of us have got mothers."

"There's not to reason why, there's but to do and die." Upham piped up from behind Wade and I and we both turned to him, my eyebrow raising in question.

"La-la, la-la, la-la, la-la, la-la, la-la, la-la, la-la. What the fuck is that supposed to mean, Corporal, huh? We're all supposed to die, is that it?" Fish walked up next to Upham and shot him an accusing look, forcing Upham to shake his head.

"Upham's talking about our duty as soldiers." Miller spoke once again and took the attention off of Upham, a sigh of relief sounding from his mouth. "Yes, Sir."

"We all have orders, and we have to follow 'em. That supersedes everything, including your mothers." Miller looked at all of us as we remained silent.

"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir." Upham shouted up toward Miller and I saw him nod, Reiben shooting a look at Upham before turning to Miller. "Even if you think the mission's FUBAR, sir?"

A grin graced Miller's lips as he looked at Reiben. "_Especially_ if you think the mission's FUBAR."

"What's FUBAR?" Upham looked between us in confusion, Fish glancing at him. "Oh, it's German."

A sarcastic laugh sounded from Fish, Caparzo, Wade, and I as Upham shrugged. "Huh, never heard of that."

"Sir, I have an opinion on this matter." It was Jackson's turn to give his two cents as he looked at Miller, earning a nod from the Captain. "Well, by all means, share it with the squad."

Jackson scrunched his eyebrows a bit. "Well, from my way of thinking, Sir, this entire mission is a serious misallocation of valuable military resources."

Miller nodded. "Yeah. Go on."

"Well, it seems to me, sir, that God gave me a special gift, made me a fine instrument of warfare." Jackson finished and Miller grinned, motioning a hand at Reiben. "Reiben, pay attention. Now, this is the way to gripe. Continue, Jackson."

Jackson smirked before continuing. "Well, what I mean by that, Sir, is...if you was to put me and this here sniper rifle anywhere up to and including one mile of Adolf Hitler with a clear line of sight, sir...pack your bags, fellas, war's over. Amen."

A sarcastic laugh sounded from Reiben as he looked back at Jackson. "Oh, that's brilliant, Bumpkin. Hey, so, Captain, what about you? I mean, you don't gripe at all?"

Reiben cocked an eyebrow at Miller who just shook his head. "I don't gripe to _you_, Reiben. I'm a Captain. There's a chain of command. Gripes go up, not down. Always up. You gripe to me, I gripe to my superior officer, so on, so on, and so on. I don't gripe to you. I don't gripe in front of you. You should know that as a Ranger."

Reiben just shrugged. "I'm sorry, Sir, but uh...let's say you weren't a Captain, or maybe I was a Major. What would you say then?"

"Well, in that case," Miller grinned and let out a soft chuckle, a second knowing grin coming from Horvath. "I'd say, 'This is an excellent mission, Sir, with an extremely valuable objective, Sir, worthy of my best efforts, Sir. Moreover, I feel heartfelt sorrow for the mother of Private James Ryan and am willing to lay down my life and the lives of my men - especially you, Reiben - to ease her suffering.'"

"He's good." I heard Fish chuckle from behind me as I grinned at Miller's 'gripe.'

"I love him." Caparzo looked back at Fish with a grin, earning an eye roll from Fish and a kissy face, which Caparzo happily returned. I grinned at both of them before I turned to face forward once again, silence overtaking the group. We continued walking as a slight drizzle began to fall down on us. I bent my head back to look up at the dreary gray sky, only to have much larger drops fall into my eyes. I frowned as I bent my head forward, rubbing my right eye as Miller shouted for us to pick up the pace. A heavier downpour started as soon as we reached a destroyed town.

"Freaking really?" I threw my arms out to the sides and glared, Wade chuckling from next to me as I picked up a steady jog. All of us crouched down next to concrete pillars; Miller, Horvath, Wade, and Jackson on one side, while Fish, Caparzo, Reiben, Upham, and myself took the other side. Miller looked at us and motioned a hand forward. "You five go!"

He whisper-yelled in our direction and we nodded, Fish taking the lead as I followed behind Reiben with Upham behind me. We quickly made our way over to the edge of a building, taking cover behind it while Miller, Horvath, Jackson, and Wade made their way over to another group of soldiers taking cover behind a large wagon.

"Watch it!" I felt a nudge to my ribs as I crouched down next to Reiben, seeing him glare at me. I huffed at him and repositioned my stance, purposely hitting him in the head with my gun again with a grin. "Oops, sorry."

"I swear to god, Thunderbolt. You'll be the one to get us all killed." Reiben sent me another glare as I just grinned at him, shaking my head. "Nah, that'll just be you and your smartass mouth that'll kill us all."

"I'm going to strangle you in your sleep-"

"Are you guys really fighting while we're stuck in a combat situation here?" Caparzo sent us both an annoyed look as Reiben and I just glared hard at each other. I huffed again at Reiben before shoving his shoulder. "Just pay attention to what's in front of you-"

"That's kind of hard when you're right next to me." Reiben's attitude immediately changed and he grinned at me, nudging me in the shoulder with his own. I glared at him again, realizing that he might be bipolar with his sudden mood swings. I just groaned at him and rolled my eyes, earning a satisfied chuckle from the man in front of me.


	3. Stay Down

"Make a hole up there!" Miller's voice shouted out at us over the loudspeaker and we all positioned ourselves farther away from the makeshift opening in the brick wall we were stationed behind. I felt Reiben push into me again to make more room as Miller slid down to a crouch next to him with Staff Sergeant William Hill taking cover on the other side. I slid back against the wall, realizing that I would no longer be able to see out of the opening, and then moved over towards Caparzo to give Reiben room, listening to Miller and Hill.

"Who's that on the loudspeaker?" Miller glanced through the whole in the wall and made a face as Hill snorted, repositioning his rifle in his hands. "That…that's Dagwood Dusseldorf, our friendly neighborhood morale officer."

Miller smiled at Hill as he paused to listen to the German propaganda booming over the sounds of distant gunshots. "'The Statue of Liberty is kaput.' That's disconcerting."

I smirked at the look Miller shared with Hill before turning to where Caparzo and Fish were crouching behind a wagon, a pile of spilled fruit at their feet. Fish made a face at the voice and then turned around to peer over the wagon in the direction of the loudspeaker. "Your father was circumcised by my rabbi, you prick!"

Caparzo snorted at Fish as he looked down at the fruit, a smirk making its way onto my face. "Nice."

He looked over at me and grinned. "Thanks."

Caparzo began picking up pieces of the fruit and throwing bruised ones over his shoulder, offering some to Fish who declined. I watched him and then jumped out of my skin when heavy machine gun fire rang out, forcing all of us to smash ourselves back into the cover we were behind.

"Cover!" Hill shouted out over the gunshots and began returning fire, the rest of us doing the same. That is, besides Caparzo.

"Are you seriously worried about eating that shit right now?" Reiben shot a disgusted look at Caparzo, my gaze turning towards Caparzo and my eyes rolling. "Seriously, Carp?"

He just looked at us and shrugged. "What? I didn't eat-"

A few bullets hitting the side of the wagon near his head cut him off and he smashed his back against the cart, attempting to position his gun between the wheels of the wagon for a shot. He struggled for a few moments before grunting, getting up and quickly moving behind the wall we were using next to Miller. I heard a bullet fly past my head and I ducked down, Reiben shooting me a look as he continued to return fire. "You alright?"

"I'm good." I straightened back up and looked over the wall only to have Reiben push my form back behind the full cover of the wall. "Just stay down…I, uh, don't need your blood all over me when you get your head shot off."

"Oh, it's nice to know you actually care about my wellbeing." I made a face at Reiben as I straightened up once again, aiming my rifle and taking out one enemy. There was silence after a moment and we all stared out into the distance, waiting for the sounds of gunfire again. A few shots rang out and I realized why when I saw Caparzo being dragged back behind cover by Miller. He shot an annoyed look at Caparzo as he roughly yanked his collar. "Get down! Are you nuts?"

"They know we're not in direct contact. They'll single out the runners." Hill spoke to Caparzo as he reloaded his weapon, Caparzo shooting him a confused look. "Why do they keep shooting him up like that?"

Miller turned back to look at Caparzo this time. "As long as his lungs have breath in them, he still carries the message. We do the same thing-"

"No we wouldn't-"

"Wade, get him ready to travel," Miller ignored Caparzo's protest as he motioned for Wade to move the injured soldier he was working on, looking over at Hill again. "What's the rest of Neuville look like?"

Hill shrugged before motioning in front of him. "Uh, next block's got 2-story buildings on both sides of the street. Then there's a wide open square with pretty good coverage on the left."

"Show me." Miller nodded at Hill as he got up, Hill following behind him as they ran to take cover behind a building to survey the area ahead.

"Should we move?" I looked over at Fish as he spoke and shook my head, leaning my back against cover as the gunfire died down again. "I wouldn't."

A moment passed by with all of us waiting in silence while we watched Miller and Hill before they yelled out towards us, motioning a hand for all of us to come over to their position. "Up front!"

I quickly got up from my position and followed Fish, taking a knee next to him as Reiben kneeled next to me. Miller looked at all of us and then focused on Reiben and Caparzo. "Reiben, Caparzo. Short runs. High and low at the corners. Gonna be tight, be prepared for close contact. Go!"

Reiben and Caparzo nodded as they took the lead with Fish, Jackson, Wade, and myself following behind. We quickly made our way forward through the wreckage with Miller and Hill walking to the front, surveying the area we were headed towards. I stepped over a large wooden beam and looked around, noticing the destroyed and tattered homes. I frowned as I imagined the families that once lived here running out in a panic, leaving almost everything they owned behind.

"Shit." I heard Jackson curse from my left as he tripped over one of the stray beams, my gaze going over to him as I grabbed his arm to steady him. "You okay?"

"Yeah…all this destruction. It's horrible." He shrugged at me as he kicked a few rocks, watching as they bounced off of the brick walls of one of the destroyed homes. Miller and Hill took the lead farther ahead of the group and we staggered behind, Reiben taking a knee to survey the area as Upham came up behind him. "Reiben, where's the Captain from?"

Reiben glanced back at him as I stopped next to them, looking around at the rooftops for stray snipers. "You figure that one out, you get yourself a nice prize."

Upham stared at him in confusion as he got up, Reiben looking over at me and grinning as I shot him a look. "What?"

I shook my head at him with a smile as I followed behind, Upham continuing to stay put as Jackson added in on the conversation. "Three hundred bucks last I heard."

"Company's got a pool. Five bucks gets you in." Fish nudged Upham on the shoulder as he followed behind Jackson, jogging up behind us. Reiben and I were the first to reach Miller and Hill, crouching behind them as they looked at the area ahead. Miller motioned an arm towards a building to the right. "It's around that corner. Defilade right up to those gates."

Miller and Hill stood up again and quickly made their way towards the building as we stayed behind for a moment, Upham shoving his way between Reiben and I as Horvath crouched to my right. "Someone has to know where's he's from, what he did for a living."

Horvath snorted from my right and Upham looked at him. "I've been with him since Kasserine Pass and I don't have a clue."

Horvath shrugged at Upham as he got up, Reiben and I moving to follow behind him. Horvath stopped at the corner of a building to look for threats and Reiben stopped behind him, Upham and myself coming to stop behind Reiben. I soon felt a hand reach over me and tap Reiben's shoulder. I shot a look back at Upham for his constant questioning and shook my head as Reiben looked back at Upham, annoyed. "Reiben, so you don't even know where he went to school?"

Reiben shook his head as he looked forward again, nodding at me to follow him. "Captain didn't go to school. They assembled him at O.C.S. out of the spare body parts of dead G.I.s."

I smirked at Reiben's response as I followed him. "I think the guy's in love with you or something the way he keeps singling you out for questions."

Reiben glanced back at me and rolled his eyes. "I hope to hell he isn't."

We quickly came up on Miller and Hill's location behind a wall and took cover, Upham and the rest of the squad picking up the back.

"Thunder! Thunder or we will fire on you!" Hill shouted out through a break in the wall, glancing around the corner at movement in one of the destroyed buildings.

"Ne tirez pas! On est Francais!" A woman's voice rang out and we all looked at each other, Miller moving behind us to a wooden door hanging off of the end of the wall. "Upham, tell them to show themselves."

Upham nodded and quickly made his way over to Miller, moving past the door a bit to show himself to the people in the building. "Montrez-vous! Montrez-vous!"

"On n'est pas arm´es!" The woman's voice rang out again and Miller ran out of cover with Upham, the rest of us following behind and moving behind cover. I followed Reiben to an abandoned car and crouched down, watching as Miller, Upham, and Caparzo crouched down behind a hill of debris below the destroyed house the woman and her family were standing in on the second floor. A baby was wrapped in a blanket in the woman's arms and a small girl and boy stood behind her.

"Porquoi tirez?" The man shouted down at Miller as the baby began to cry. The woman walked forward and looked down at Miller. "Mais baissez vos fusils! On est Francais!"

Miller looked at them for a moment before turning to Upham. "Ask them if they know where the Germans are."

Upham nodded and then looked at the family. "Ou sount les allemands?"

"Ca vas pas! Lis sont partout! Il faut vous emmener les enfants!" The man seemed to ignore what Upham was asking him as he turned towards his wife and young daughter behind him, picking her up and holding her out towards Miller.

"What's he saying?" Miller looked over at Upham who was staring up at the man. "Something about the children. They want us to take the children."

Miller shook his head abruptly, shooting a look at Upham. "No, no, no. We can't take the kids."

Upham looked over at Miller and nodded, shooting his gaze back to the man and waving his hand at him. "Non ne pouvons pas les prendre avec nous!"

"We can't take the kids! No!" Miller shouted up at the man in English as Caparzo moved around the corner of the house and looked up at them.

"Mais non! Mais non! Nous ne pouvons pas les prendre avec nous!" Upham yelled up at them once again in French and I placed a hand to my forehead, sighing from in front of Reiben behind the cover of the car. All of the communication that was getting lost in translation along with the blatant confusion radiating from everyone was giving me a headache.

"Caparzo! What are you doing?" I looked up when I heard Miller scream at Caparzo, watching him move forward towards the man holding out the child for Miller to take. Caprazo moved his gun to his hip and reached out towards the little girl, taking her in his arms as she screamed, tears streaming down her face.

"He's fucking crazy…" I heard Reiben mumble from behind me as I stayed silent, unsure of what Miller was going to do and what Caparzo was planning to do with the child. I turned my attention to Miller when he slammed his boot into the wreckage in front of him, glaring at Caparzo as Upham whipped his attention between Miller and the family. "They think the children will be safer with us-"

"It's not gonna be safe when they're with us!" Miller interrupted Upham and ran a hand over his face, shooting another glare at Caparzo when he removed his helmet from his head.

"Caparzo, leave the kid! Please!" I yelled out towards Caparzo and I saw him glance at me before turning his gaze to Horvath who had yelled at him right after me. "Are you nuts?! Listen to the Captain!"

"They think they'll be safe with us, Sir." At this point, Upham was just trying to calm Miller down and avoid a blowup. However, Miller wasn't having any of that.

"They're not going to be safe anywhere!" Miller screamed at Upham before looking at Caparzo. "Caparzo! Put that kid back!"

Miller moved from his position next to Upham towards Caparzo, glaring at him as he attempted to calm the little girl in his arms. "Caparzo! Put that little girl back! Get that kid back now!"

When Caparzo didn't comply Miller groaned, turning back to Upham. "How do you say 'it's okay'?"

"Uh-" Upham was soon interrupted by Caparzo beginning to move away from the family, everyone shooting their attention to him.

"I can't. She reminds me of my niece, Sir." Caparzo looked at Miller with sincerity as he held the girl close to him, Miller's face twisting into an annoyed look. "Caparzo, get the kid back up there!"

Miller's left arm flew out and he pointed up towards the family, his shoulders squaring and face remaining stern. Caparzo opened his mouth to say something and looked back at the family, turning back to Miller after a moment. "Sir, the decent thing to do is to take her down the road to the next town-"

"We're not here to do the decent thing! We're here to follow fucking orders!" At that moment Miller snapped, moving forward and grabbing the girl out of Caparzo's arms and then turning towards the rest of us. "Sarge, take this fucking kid-"

A gunshot rang out and we all jumped, a thud sounding in the background as everyone's eyes darted around for where the shot had come from. My eyes finally met the bullet's target, all of the feeling in my body leaving me at that moment. Caparzo lied on the ground where he had just been standing with the little girl a moment ago. My breath caught in my throat as I attempted to comprehend what had just happened, watching as blood pooled underneath his torso.

"Jesus Christ." Reiben's words came out as a breathy whisper as I slowly began crawling forward, attempting to reach Caparzo. I felt a hand roughly grab my arm and pull me back before I could move even an inch. "Stay here!"

Reiben's grip remained on my arm as I stared at Caparzo in complete shock while everyone else yelled at each other in confusion. I felt my body fall back and into Reiben, his grip repositioning itself to hold up my form. "Carp…"

"Goddamn it! Where'd that come from!" Hill yelled out over everyone and it got quiet again, Caparzo attempting to move from his position. "Cap…"

"He was on the ground before we heard the shot!" I heard Jackson yell out from somewhere behind us and I turned my head, watching as he moved over towards Miller and loaded a bullet into his rifle. "I wouldn't venture out there, fellas! This sniper's got talent!"

I watched him for a moment before I turned my head again, this time towards a small tower to the left of where we were all positioned. My eyes scanned over the opening at the top and then widened when I saw a gleam, jumping a bit as I prepared to move. "I see him-"

"Don't move," I felt Reiben's arm pull me back again and I looked at him, his eyes looking between me and the tower. "Just- stay here. Don't move-"

"Reiben, I have to help Jackson-"

"No! Just…it's not safe. Just stay here." I stared at him in frustration for a moment before turning my attention back to Jackson, watching him move closer towards the tower to line up a shot. I contemplated trying to rip from Reiben's grip and going to help Jackson before I realized that the angle Reiben had on me would mean I would be overpowered before I could even try. I sighed in anger and stayed behind cover, looking over the hood of the car in Jackson's direction.

"Jacqueline!" I heard the family cry out to their daughter before she cried back, her voice cracking a bit as Horvath attempted to comfort her. "Mama!"

"Please don't cry. I'm going to take you back to your mama and papa." I watched Horvath place a hand to her shoulder as he tried to shush her before I looked at Caparzo, writhing helplessly on the ground. He turned his attention towards Miller, attempting to call him in a raspy voice. "Captain-"

"Hold on, Caparzo." Miller attempted to motion to Caparzo to keep quiet, waving a hand in his direction. Caparzo ignored him as he once again tried to move. "Help me up! I can walk, I can walk!"

"Caparzo stay still!" Wade's voice cut through the air in a panic as I shut my eyes tightly, moving farther back into Reiben's grip. He responded to me and tightened his grip, watching Caparzo struggle and cry out again. "Fish!"

More shouting from the French family and the child continuing to cry filled the air as everyone remained where they were, Wade's voice cutting through the tension once again. "Captain, can you see him from there? How is he? Where's he shot, Captain?"

"Wade, you stay put! Stay there!" Miller's voice was stern as he looked at Wade, his attention slowly scanning over Caparzo in worry.

"Damn it, stay down!" Hill's voice could be heard next to Wade and he reached a hand out, roughly pulling him back behind cover. "What's the matter with you? Am I gonna take care of you if you get hit? Huh?"

"Fish, come over here…" I shot my attention back to Caparzo when he spoke again, the words seemingly getting harder to speak after every passing second for him.

"Put your head down, Carpy. Put your head down." Fish's strained voice sounded from just behind Reiben and I as Caparzo reached a shaky hand into the front of his jacket, bringing out a folded white envelope and holding it in the air towards Fish. "Copy it. Copy it and send it for me."

"Carpy, you're gonna send it yourself. Put it down! It's got blood! Carpy, I see it." Fish's voice was strained again as he pleaded with Caparzo who just ignored him and continued to hold the envelope out towards him. "It's- it's to my dad. It's got blood on it."

As soon as the words left Caparzo's mouth a gunshot rang out, my entire body jumping when I realized I had been staring at Caparzo the entire time. I felt my hand reach for Reiben's forearm and grip onto it, a grunt sounding from him in response to the sudden pressure. More than a few moments of silence passed before Fish's voice cut through, signaling to all of us that it was once again safe. "We got him. Stay down."

I was ripping myself from Reiben's grasp before Fish could finish talking, running over towards Caparzo and slipping to a stop at his side. My eyes darted over his face, looking for some sort of sign of life as my hands reached forward, cupping his cheeks. "Carpy…Carpy, can you hear me?"

Wade quickly made his way over towards us, kneeling down next to Caparzo and beginning to inspect the gunshot wound in his chest. I continued to stare at Caparzo's lifeless face as a crowd began to form around us, Fish stopping next to me and looking towards Wade. "How bad is it?"

"Chest, maybe lung shot…" Wade mumbled as he worked, my face falling at his assumption. "Can you fix him? Is he going to be okay?"

My voice was in a rush as I spoke to Wade, his eyes never leaving Caparzo's body as he spoke. "I'm not entirely sure," Wade moved his hand up to Caparzo's neck to feel for a pulse, his face remaining stone for a moment and then falling. His eyes slowly made their way up to mine and he slowly shook his head, seemingly in shock. "No..."

My breathing hitched in my throat again as I gripped Caparzo's face, my eyes moving down as everyone looked on. Wade slowly rose to his feet and removed a blanket from his pack, beginning to unfold it as I just stared at Caparzo. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked to my left, seeing Fish looking down at me in sorrow. Another hand gripped my right bicep and I shot my attention to Reiben, seeing him jerk his head in a motion for me to get up. "Time to move…"

I remained where I was for a moment and looked back down at Caparzo, wiping some of the dirt from his face. Reiben's grip tightened on my arm and I felt him gently lift me up as Miller stormed over to the group, pushing his way in between Horvath and Jackson. He stared down at Caparzo for a moment before looking at all of us. "That's why we can't take children."

He shook his head before crouching down, reaching into Caparzo's jacket and ripping his tag from its chain. I tore my gaze away from Caparzo and looked towards the French family, seeing they were now huddled together and staring down at us. I felt a hand on my lower back and I looked behind me at Reiben, watching him give me a nod in understanding. I just looked at him for a moment before I heard Wade move to take Caparzo's letter, grief hitting me hard once again. I shut my eyes and just laid my forehead against Reiben's shoulder, his hand remaining on my lower back as he stayed still.

"Sergeant Horvath, do an ammo check. Upham, canteens. Fill 'em up. Sergeant Hill, gather your men. We'll form up." Miller looked between all of us before he moved towards Hill, leaving us in a quiet circle around Caparzo's body. I turned my head away from Reiben's shoulder just in time to see Wade begin moving the blanket over Caparzo, pausing to look at his face before covering it. He remained crouched on the ground for a moment before he stood up, sending Reiben and I a nod before moving to find Miller. I watched him walk away before I moved my gaze back to Caparzo's covered body, staring at the green blanket.

"Reiben, Bolt! Let's go! Move!" I jumped at Miller's sudden shout and looked up, watching Miller motion towards us and then start to walk away with Hill. I remained silent as I moved away from Reiben, looking back at the blanket again before moving towards the rest of the group. When I realized Reiben wasn't following me, I looked back, seeing him in the same spot. I walked back to him and placed a hand gently on his arm, his gaze moving down to my hand before moving up to meet mine. He stared at me for a moment before he finally spoke.

"Fuck Ryan."

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